5 Ways to LIVE Instead of Living on Your Phone

Anyone else feel like you’re just ALWAYS on your phone?? I can’t be the only one! LOL 😉 In this day and age, it’s so so easy to get sucked into our phones…I mean, it’s actually pretty important to have one and to be reachable with how technology-based everything is. We use our phones for GPS, to find a good restaurant, to answer questions that we can’t figure out on our own, to find people with similar interests, to stay in touch with family and friends, etc. I think the attachment that we have to our phones is pretty understandable, but what about those times when you just neeeeed to unplug?
If you’ve ever tried to spend some dedicated time away from your phone, you may know how hard that actually is in practice. I know that when I had a little “phone cleanse”, sometimes I found myself picking it up and mindlessly scrolling without even thinking about it! You know what I mean?? Lucky for you, I’ve been on the hunt for the best ways to SUCCESSFULLY unplug without it feeling like a super drastic trip back to the stone age. You ready? Let’s do this!

1. Utilize Airplane Mode or Turn it off

This one might not be right for you if you need to be able to answer texts or calls throughout the day, but if not, give this one a go! Be intentional about what you plan to do for the day, and map it out ahead of time. Find the hours in your day during which being near your phone isn’t necessary…and get rid of it. Turn it all the way off, or simply switch it to airplane mode if you still want to use some functions of your phone without being tied to social media.

2. Give Your Phone a Bedtime

This is a really great idea when it comes to creating more family time. I don’t know how many times I have caught myself mindlessly picking up my phone during a tv show or movie that Alex and I are watching or while we are cooking dinner. It really does rob us of that closeness that we could be experiencing if we weren’t using our phones as well. Pick a time to shut it all down, and LIVE. The people that try to reach you during those times will understand if it takes you until the next day to get back to them!

3. Put your phone in another room

This is perfect for you if you want to be reachable but still want to place some distance between you and your phone. Just turn the ringer up super loud on your phone, place it in another room that would be a bit inconvenient to access, and walk away! Bonus points if you put it on another floor of the house. 😉

4. Have a plan

This is the one that I have been focusing on the most lately! When you feel your fingers start to move towards your phone, ask yourself…”What am I about to do?” If you don’t know, don’t even touch it! Really try to get good at only using your phone for what you actually need it for…instead of just mindlessly scrolling through apps! Raise your hand if you’re oh so guilty of that. 😉

5. Give yourself a time limit

This can be especially hard and especially important for those who use social media for business. We need to scale back, slow down, and trust that God will take care of us. Many people say that once you post, you should check back soon after to engage on that post. I totally think that’s a good idea…if you don’t have a phone addiction. LOL. I’ve had to realize that reading comments, replying, and checking up on my posts throughout the day are huge triggers that can lead to wasted minutes on my phone when I really don’t need to be on it. If you struggle with this, decide how many minutes you are going to take to do what you need to do, and stop checking to see how many followers and likes you received in the last five minutes. You’re so much more than all of that!

Let’s chat! Comment below and let us know which one of these tips you’re going to try + share some of your own tips!

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7 Comments

tiffany

December 31, 2018 at 7:59 pm

These are really great tips! I recently broke my iPhone and now using a simple old phone. It has been great to not actually be on social media. It actually brought me to your blog some how. I’m so happy I found you. I have read quite a few of your post. I plan to read most of your posts. The intimacy post are pretty though provoking. I’m also super new at reading the bible so I’m hoping to lean some stuff from your post.